The last month and a half has proven to be a period of intensity for me. Intense learning, intense change and intense creativity. During a recent lockdown thanks to covid-19, I was able to work at home with both my work and home laptops open in front of me, which allowed me to finish 5 short story drafts to add to my Virtus manuscript, which now ups the count to 18 complete stories.
With more time at home, I've also been able to sit with various stories by other authors, those that had won contest competitions and some by my most favourite writers like Mark Jarman and Joseph Boyden. I would read through them with a pencil in hand and dissect them with a critical eye, pointing out different devices that they would use, how they executed transitions in non-linear ways, and how each sentence was always a step towards the finale of the piece. It was an eye-opening exercise for me and as a result I was able to look at pieces that had been troubling me for a while and suddenly find the mode in which they would work as a cohesive finished piece. I had been writing so long in a strict linear way, almost chronologically arranged and had been looking for ways to escape that approach. The result of this study give my writing a dimension I had always felt was missing and I wholeheartedly believe I'm writing better than I ever have before, with more creativity and a greater confidence.
And the final new thing to boost my writing is my participation in the Sweetwater Aspiring Writers' Workshop, run by Joseph Boyden and his wife Laura Vukson. Through this workshop, I've been able to meet four other writers and we've been able to share stories with one another while Joseph has given us exercises to help us find a balance between exposition, setting and dialogue to help our stories flow, as well as advice on how to create dynamic and realistic characters to drive our plots. I have always admired Joseph for his courage in facing the controversies that had dogged him in recent years, and I see no change in his wisdom and generosity, which I have always known to be the true measure of the man. I hope to become friends with him through this because I really do find him immensely interesting to talk to.
So here I am, obsessively writing with abandon, totally okay with the 'stay at home' order and riding this creative wave as far as it will take me. I'm hoping to have a completely replenished and energized short story collection to be sent out by the spring so I can concentrate once again on my LefTturn novel during the summer break.
Each new year, I like to think that I am going to stuff the time with as much adventure as I possibly can with road trips and live shows and joining in with the social rabble. I was hoping that I would be able to return to that with 2020 being such a washout. But as the pandemic lingers like an unwanted guest that refuses to leave, I find I can fill 2021 with another kind of adventure with the same or even more satisfaction, which is to really expand my writing career into something successful and rewarding. I am healthy and strong and excited to see where this will all lead. Wayward Ho!
